Weekend Update 8/14/16

[up1950s]

[Kisatchie]

Hmm... how embarrassing
to get sucked off the
platform...

[conrail98]

Played around late last night and early this morning with some second hand turnouts and closing up the distance for Atlas crossovers, removing the frog rails and using stock rails, cutting some ties.



Then did a full crossover set, although only place I could put joiners I'd have to remove the headblocks.



These probably won't be going anywhere close to a layout, but I wanted to see if the technique I've read in a few Pelle Soeberg articles could apply,

Phil

[mu26aeh]

Sometimes, things just work out for the better.  My boss approached me earlier this week about swapping routes with him, as he would not be able to fit enough product on his truck since his truck is smaller than mine.  My last stop was only minutes from Choo Choo Nuts in Lancaster.  I stopped by just before a storm blew in, I walked in and started looking around.  They noticed me looking at N scale and said "Are you an N scaler ?  We just got a sizeable collection in the other day.  Most of it is here on the back shelf. "  I said thanks, looks like I'm in trouble.  I walked out with this.  $6.00 each for hoppers, $8.00 for boxcar and NS hopper.

20160812_200044[1] by Adam Henry, on Flickr

[u18b]

Now one of my favorite models.

The Cumberland Shop switcher.
Chessie resurrected it out of a dead line when the brand new SD50s arrived.
They were too big for the turntable AND a road loco.

I love the custom paint jobs (total of about three) this little loco has had.
This is the way it looked in the early days of CSX.

[C855B]

Played around late last night and early this morning with some second hand turnouts and closing up the distance for Atlas crossovers, removing the frog rails and using stock rails, cutting some ties. ...

OK, how does this work? I have to do a similar operation to a handful of 90° crossings. I have a couple I can sacrifice to process mistakes, but am concerned that simply yanking hard on the rail is going to result in more harm than good.

[conrail98]

OK, how does this work? I have to do a similar operation to a handful of 90° crossings. I have a couple I can sacrifice to process mistakes, but am concerned that simply yanking hard on the rail is going to result in more harm than good.

I was concerned too but the ones that didn't have gobs of solder on them (mine were second hand) slid right out and I was able to slide them. The technique has been published by Pelle a few times, one in his "Rebuilding a Layout from A to Z" and he did an article on trackwork and the like in April, 2016 MR using the same technique. You do just need to pull straight and try not to bend too much. Maybe next one or two I'll take a bunch more pictures of the process. I got the separation down to 1 1/8" which is 15' in N scale which, while only 1/8" different from the 1 1/4" default, I felt actually looks better. Now to figure out the whole roadbed since cork roadbed is too wide,

Phil

[C855B]

Thanks. This (so far) doesn't seem to work with the crossings. It's possible, maybe even probable, that each rail is actually one piece through the plastic frogs and notched where it crosses the other rail inside the plastic. So now I'm working on an idea that should hopefully prevent the quad diamond I'm building from being one great big joiner-fest.

[BCR 570]

With my main line now complete and operational, my attention has turned to getting the eight main line turnouts powered up and actuated from control panels on the fascia.  The servos and frog juicers are already in place under the layout; the frog juicers receive their power from the track bus but the servo drivers require a separate 5 amp power supply.

I have built an auxiliary power panel comprising three power supplies and DCC boosters which will supply power to three auxiliary power buses, one for Chetwynd Yard, one for the main line turnouts, and one for Dawson Creek Yard.  Here is the completed panel ready to hang under the layout:




I have run the auxiliary bus for the main line turnouts around the layout, and from there have run feeder wires to each bracket for the servo drivers.  The servo drivers will be mounted on brackets so that I can see them easily if re-programming is required.  here is a view under Tremblay showing the aux bus run at rear, the servo on its bracket with frog juicer attached, the bracket for the servo driver, and the feeder wires ready to connect to the driver and power it up:




The servo drivers were assembled from the Tam Valley Singlet kits with everything on one side so that they can be taped to the brackets under the layouts:




The turnouts will be thrown by means of toggle switches in the control panels on the fascia.  The toggle switch leads run back to the servo drivers.  Here are the toggle switches with lead wires attached:




I am now waiting on my control panels; when they arrive it will be a matter of inserting the toggle switches, connecting the leads to the servo drivers, and then mounting it all on the layout.  I am looking forward to fascia turnout control!


Tim

[davefoxx]

My family and I have been in Illinois this week visiting my wife's family.  We visited the Illinois Railway Museum in Union, Illinois, and, yesterday, I drove up to Waukesha, Wisconsin to get a tour of the Model Railroader magazine offices.  After the tour, I stopped by Hiawatha Hobbies just a few miles away.  As a memento of our trip (and because I've had some weird fondness for the Illinois Central), I bought an Atlas N scale GP38-2 decorated for the Illinois Central Gulf, as this locomotive would have been painted in the early- to mid-1980s.  I'll justify it on my layout as if it's in a SBD-ICG power sharing arrangement.  My wife is from Illinois, so she likes this locomotive.

I also bought some HO scale Kato Unitrack to build a test loop for my On30 ten-wheeler.  I want to experiment with the minimum radius of this locomotive, so I can do some accurate trackplanning.  This track will also allow me to run my locomotive until I begin building a layout.  My four-year-old daughter likes to ride trains with me and sometimes asks me to run a train on my layout, so, who knows?  Maybe I'll recycle this Unitrack for an HO train for her someday.

Pics when I get home.

DFF

[Cajonpassfan]

......... Maybe next one or two I'll take a bunch more pictures of the process. I got the separation down to 1 1/8" which is 15' in N scale which, while only 1/8" different from the 1 1/4" default, I felt actually looks better. Now to figure out the whole roadbed since cork roadbed is too wide,

Phil

Phil, I agree, closer spacing looks better in N scale and makes the mainline look longer. I've modified most of my Atlas C55 turnouts; cut them, bent them and otherwise abused them to fit a particular situation. Once you're past the frog and points, you can do a lot. I've even bent the tails on some #5's to save space in my staging yard, see pics below.
Regards, Otto K.

A crossing can likewise be tortured into a desired geometry....

[PaulP]

Been working on a layout for my 4 year old grandson.


Also been working on a project for a friend




Some where between the Melinda B and the Iris G for you guys up north.

Paul

[nkalanaga]

Phil:  That turnout trick also works with ME.  I did it years ago, at least partly to eliminate some of the joints, but also to shorten the distance.

[pjm20]

A few weekends ago I was a Lewistown to do dome railfanning, and lo and behold the first train I caught, 16N, had the Interstate heritage unit!

[fcnrwy23]

Another piece of my MOW puzzle, just arrived in the USPS, this morning....

My Concrete Tie loads from Ngineer  (via Shapeways). 



Now I can start work on adding to my P811 train.  I had made a pair of flatcars for this train.  But, I did not have any concrete or wooden ties.   So, the project got shelved...



I have had the P811 for years now, but didn't want to spend the rest of my life making, "styrene" concrete ties.
I bought three samples, that should be good enough for an decent train.
After, I prime them.  I will give them a shot of ? concrete gray. 

     Q. Is that gray too dark?.  The ties I have seen on video, look WHITE!  Is this color correct??
I do plan on painting the bulkhead framework, Orange like the cars...
 
Jerry G.